PRE-COLLEGE FILM PROGRAM A SUCCESS!

Assistant professor of media arts Josh Robbins led the event along with professor Jeff Bass, James Duryea, and Lee Walis with students Mike Caiola, ’11, and Nick Sortino, ’11, as teaching assistants.

“I loved it because we got to make movies the way movies are supposed to be made,” Robbins said.

The students, along with Robbins, wrote the script while taking intensive workshops in screenwriting, directing actors, blocking and the breaking down of each department. Once the script was written and pre-production was finalized, they created the film during three days of 12- hour shoots. The students acted in the film as well.

“One frustrating thing I find doing movies in college is that you also have four other classes,” Robbins said. “It’s hard to do production the way it is supposed to be done.”

The film, called “Jack of Hearts,” was shot in the studios on campus as well as outside and around Poughkeepsie.

Robbins said. “When we did the editing, we made decisions together on what shots looked the best.” The students got an additional treat when film director A. Sayeeda Clarke, a friend of Robbins, traveled from New York City to teach the students about how to cast and direct actors in a film.

Robbins is excited to run the program again this summer. “By the end, the kids were really making decisions based on knowledge,” Robbins said. “It was a great time. I got a lot out of it.”